Investors and Advisors

Informance complements our strategic efforts to migrate all business unites to common platforms.
Ron Christenson
Cargill, Corporate VP and CTO

EMI applications, such as Informance, generally begin to deliver value within days of being installed, offering an ROI that's measured in weeks and months, not years.
Allison Smith
AMR Research, Research Director

We consistently strive for best-in-class manufacturing performance. Informance enables effective continuous improvement, which is key to manufacturing flexibility, low variability, and, ultimately, outstanding customer value.
Ish Ahamed
Diageo Plainfield, VP Supply

Informance allows us to apply TPM loss elimination principles across our plants... We now have visibility of this information regardless of where you sit and can help replicate the improvement gains across multiple factories.
Tony Lippert
Unilever, Plant Manager

Schienvar calls the Informance Manufacturing Intelligence Suite used at L'Oreal a 'beautiful tool.'
Scott Schienvar
L'Oreal, Logistic Director

Informance gives us visibility into all of the facilities across our plant network to drive operational success.
Steve Belke
AkzoNobel, Supply Chain VP

The competitive climate is changing at an increasing pace. Managers are drowning in data, but starving for relevant information.
Carol Ptak
Pacific Lutheran University,
Former President APICS

By focusing on operator-identified problems, we addressed the obstacles from each operation within the value stream.
Pat Hatem
JohnsonDiversey, Plant Manager

We can show the cost of not spending capital at the push of a button.
Rich Mosgrove
Ventura, VP Manufacturing

Investors and Advisors

Investors

Mayfield provides "venture capital with impact" and shows leadership in early-stage venture investing by teaming with exceptional individuals to create industry-leading companies.˜ Mayfield has deep domain expertise in enterprise software, networking/communications and consumer technology.˜ Since Mayfield's founding in 1969, the firm has invested in more than 450 companies, completed hundreds of mergers and acquisitions and taken 100 companies public.˜ Mayfield's portfolio of companies includes those that represent the foundation of today's technology economy, as well as companies striving to set the technology paradigms of the future.˜ For more information, please visit www.mayfield.com.

The leading start-up venture investor in the country, NEA primarily invests in businesses in information technology and medical and life sciences. With $4.8 billion in capital under management, NEA has invested in more than 400 companies, of which more than 135 have gone public and more than 150 have been successfully acquired. Since 1978, NEA has practiced classic venture capital by investing in early-stage companies including 3Com, Adaptec, Clarify, Kana Communications, Macromedia, Sage Software, Silicon Graphics, TIVO, and Virata Corporation. For more information on NEA, visit www.nea.com.

Cargill Ventures invests in early stage technology-driven companies that enhance business processes, growth and innovation in global industries relevant to Cargill. Cargill Ventures maintains offices in San Mateo,Calif., and Minneapolis. It is a business unit of Cargill, www.cargill.com, an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 101,000 employees in 59 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. For more information visit www.cargillventures.com.

Advisors

The Advisory Board is a conduit of field and academic research that helps keep Informance attuned to the latest challenges and opportunities faced by manufacturers. This flow of knowledge plays a critical roll in guiding the further development of Informance solutions and setting the course for the business strategy.

Carol A. Ptak, CFPIM, CIRM, Jonah, PMP

Executive in Residence
Pacific Lutheran University

A leading authority in the use of ERP and Supply Chain tools to drive improved bottom line performance, Ms. Ptaks expertise is well grounded in over two decades of practical experience as a successful practitioner, consultant and educator in manufacturing operations. Her pragmatic approach to complex issues and dynamic presentation style has her in high demand worldwide on the subject of how to leverage these tools and successfully become an e-business. Most recently she was PeopleSofts Vice President and Global Industry Executive for Manufacturing and Distribution Industries.

She holds an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology and completed the EMPO program at Stanford University. She is the author of numerous articles and the books "MRP and Beyond" and "ERP, Tools, Techniques and Applications for Integrating the Supply Chain". "Necessary but not Sufficient" was co-authored with Dr. Eli Goldratt and Eli Schragenheim. Together with Dean Gilliam she updated "Quantum Leap", originally written by John Constanza. Her most recent work, "Theory H.O.W.", is expected during the summer of 2006. Ms. Ptak has lent her name to the internationally coveted Ptak Prize for Supply Chain Excellence that is awarded annually by ISCEA (International Supply Chain Education Alliance.)

Conrad Winkler

Vice President Operations Practice
Booz Allen Hamilton

Conrad has over ten years of management consulting experience in manufacturing and supply chain issues across a range of industries. In particular, Mr. Winkler specializes in using manufacturing best practices to drive improvements, restructuring manufacturing networks and changing how companies manage suppliers.

Mr. Winkler received an MBA and Masters of Manufacturing Management at Northwestern University and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He has written two cover articles in Strategy and Business, Manufacturing Myopia” and Building the Advantaged Supply Network.” Prior to business school, Mr. Winkler spent over five years as a nuclear trained officer on board fast attack submarines in the United States Navy.